Business of Tourism : Indian Travel industry poised to boom!

India's second largest Online Travel Agent (OTA), EaseMytrip ( www.easemytrip.com) put out some interesting data points in its investor presentation May 24 2024.  

Source : Easemytrip investor ppt, slide 21, May 24 2025

Briefly, it shows how India , and Indian travelers are set to be key drivers of domestic and international tourism. 

The INR values themselves for the overall travel market are growing well : from INR 27,700crore in 2023Estimated to INR 40,400 crore Estimated in 2027. Within that number, air travel is estimated at 15% growth, on the back of new airports, planes, and generally better affordability. 

The key is the online market, whose spread, availability and convenience has impacts on many industries, not least travel itself which it will facilitate growing. Its expected to go from INR 18500 crore to INR 29800 crore from 2023 to 2027 E. That's massive growth, underlined by hotels, transport, F&B. It also suggests a strategy marketing - almost every travel player has migrated big time from print ( at one time the primary medium for advertising) to digital, since the chain from idea to execution is seamless and information for the same is easily available real time. 

These numbers also show international players like airlines and tourism boards an early glimpse of the future. 

There were 22.6 million Indian Nationals Departures (IND) as per the ministry of tourism, and 98% went by air. These are good numbers for a tourism destination, and the growth of internet, affordability, smart phones and easier visa regimes can only drive more growth.

Interestingly, Easemytrip said in their analyst call on May 24 2024 that they have adopted 4 heritage  landmarks for maintenance under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Adopt a Heritage 2.0 program: The Qutub Minar,  Delhi; The Konark Sun temple, Agra Fort, and Western group of temples in Khajuraho. Totally, these get over 6 mn visitors annually, not a bad OTS ( Opportunity to see), and may be even get business! 

The other aspect they seem to be doing is to train over 1.8 cr didis (women) in rural areas to use the app and book tickets. Even if 10% of these start using it regularly, it will open up a flood of travel bookings. 

Hopefully, the company will follow thru on these, and not just see it as PR; should be interesting to see if they declare progress on these in future investor calls. 

Ignore India at your own peril!